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Former Player Wills tobacco factory on the South Circular Road, Dublin 8

A petition has been posted on Uplift, calling for affordable homes and “appropriate community facilities” to be built at the former Player Wills tobacco factory on the South Circular Road in Dublin 8.

The petition, posted by Rebecca Moynihan, says:

For over a decade now the Player Wills’ site on the South Circular Road has laid vacant. The site has been passed into the hands of NAMA with Grant Thornton appointed as receivers.

This site has the potential to have develop over 500 affordable homes with appropriate community facilities, in order to develop a sustainable community for decades to come.

The Minister for Housing should intervene to stop this land being transferred to a private equity firm and develop the site as cost rental and affordable housing to ensure that the housing needs of our citizens is met.

The Government is to replace the Policing Authority and the Garda Inspectorate with a new oversight body, as recommended by the Commission on the Future of Policing, despite a submission to the contrary from the authority.

A new Strategic Threat Analysis Centre will also be set up to co-ordinate security and intelligence at a central government level…

…The authority, which is responsible for promotions and holding the commissioner to account in public, highlighted the potential risks of such a move to garda oversight and questioned how these changes could serve the public interest and maintain the current level of transparency.

However, the minister is to press ahead with the changes that will lead to the authority’s abolition.

Warm-hearted, curtain-twitching coverage in the Irish Times (top) and the Irish Independent of the aftermath of the attempted eviction of a farmer and two siblings from their home in Strokestown, County Roscommon.

“I do the WHOLE of Christmas. From climbing a rickety ladder up to the attic for the Christmas decorations, to untangling the lights, putting lights on the outside trees, buying the gifts, doing Santa on Christmas Eve (which involves going to bed at midnight, setting the alarm to get up at 3 am when I’m sure everyone’s asleep) to making ridiculous, messy “Santa” footprints with ashes from the fire (which I then have to clean up the next morning), to buying, wrapping presents.”